Paid to test video games

                After a difficult development process, made possible by the fans via a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, Elite Dangerous finally got released this week.

I’ve been looking forward to check this game out, since I’m a huge fan of space video games and I’m quite interested in science. I never played any previous Elite title, but I did spend a lot of time with X2: The Threat, X3: Reunion, Freelancer and many other notable titles of this genre.

                Elite Dangerous is a true space simulator using Newtonian physics and offering a 1:1 scale realistic Milky Way galaxy to explore. The game is also the first in the series to be an MMO (of some sort), even if the chances to run into other players in such a huge open world are quite slim.

                I have been playing the game this entire week and I can say I’m quite satisfied. It is a simulator as advertise and for a space enthusiast like me it is very enjoyable. It is a niche game and clearly not for everybody’s taste, the developers have made few compromises with gameplay mechanics, but even so, it is addressed mostly to the patient fans of the simulator games.

                Elite is a complete game as it is now, there is a lot more to do in this world besides trying to explore as much as possible of the galaxy. The game offers a good variety of missions, there is a reputation system for factions and a ranking system for pilots, there are plenty ships and upgrades and so much more. But I do feel that the game got released a bit too soon, some things can get repetitive quite fast and that’s not something you want to see in a newly released MMO.

                The massive multiplayer component could have been handled a little better so players can find themselves easier. Missions that would force players to interact with each other or special events throughout the known space would be something that I would very much like to see in the game. It feels a little like a grind right now, working hard to raise the reputation with some factions, leveling up the pilot rank and stacking up money for better ships. But as any MMO, the development never ends and there is more to come in the future.

                The guys from Frontier Development promised constant updates and even expansions for the game with planned features like full scale planet exploration (can’t wait!) and many other cool ideas.

                I look at the game as a realistic space exploration experience (since I won’t live to see that in reality… wish I had a VR!) with entertaining fights and a continuously changing economic system.  It is a long term investment and I can’t wait to see some of the new features this game will have in several months or in a couple of years.

                The Wolfenstein review is done, I couldn’t post it this week since I’ve been quite busy, but it will be up tomorrow. I’m continuing my work on my other articles and playing some more Elite so I can write a review for it.

Since many websites and digital distribution platforms started the winter sale this week I’m hunting for any good deals for the games I’m interested in (This War of Mine, The Old City Leviathan, Lords of Xulima and some others) and I recommend everybody to do the same.